Lacing needle



May 10, 1955 W. H. KEETON LACING NEEDLE Filed Feb. 25, 1953 "III/111117 INVENTOR BY 7% m vfinme ATTORNEYS United States Patent A LACING NEEDLE William Hollis Keeton, San Angelo, Tex.

Application February 25, 1953, Serial No. 338,663

7 Claims. (Cl. 223--103) This invention relates to a lacing needle particularly lie congruently insofar as its length permits.

9 to be flexed or bent along the transverse line c which is adjacent the uppermost point in the line of fold a.

The needle 1 is formed from the blank by folding the part 6 in an upward direction along the fold line a, then folding it down flat against the part 7, upon which it will The two parts should be pressed into intimate interfacial contact. If desired, they may be positively united as by brazing or welding, with the exception of the upper end 8 containing the eye 4, which must be left free from the underlying extension 9. The contiguous parts 6 and 7 of adapted for use in stitching vtogether the parts of leather or like manufactures, as for example, billfolds, or providing ornamental stitched edging therefor, using a ribhon-type lacing or thong.

The general object of the invention is to provide a needle which is readily threaded, which holds the end of the lacing firmly, which avoids the need of doubling the lacing, and which opposes the minimum resistance to being pulled through the preformed slits in the material into which the lacing is to be introduced.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following description of a practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawing throughout the several fiigures of which the same reference characters have been used to denote identical parts:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a lacing needle embodying the principles of the invention;

Figure 2 is a side view, the parts of the needle being in normal or lacing gripping position;

Figure 3 is a section taken along the line 33 of Figure 1, the parts of the needle being relatively deflected, this being the threading position;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the needle, threaded;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the blank from which the needle is made;

Figure 6 is a cross-section taken along the line 66 of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a cross-section taken along the line 7--7 of Figure 1. I

Referring now in detail to the construction, the needle is designated by the numeral 1. Since it is designed to penetrate preformed slits, the needle is fiat, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, being relatively wide, and relatively thin in a depth direction, the leading end .or point 2 being rounded in the plane .of its width and terminating in an edge sufiiciently sharp to enter the slits.

The needle is provided with two eyes 3 and. 4, one at the end opposite the point and the other at a distance below the upper eye. From a point below the eye .4 the needle tapers towards its lower end, both widthwise and .depthwise. Above the eye 4 it is preferably of uniform width substantially to its upper end.

In the form shown, the needle ,is made from a flat blank 5, shaped as shown in Figure 5, the lower part of which is tapered toward the lower end symmetrically with respect to a medial longitudinal fold line a. This fold line divides the blank into two parts 6 and 7. The part 6 is shorter than the part 7, rounded at its upper end 8, and having the eye 4 through its upper end. The part 7 has an upward extension 9 with an eye 3 at its upper end. The extension 9 is of uniform width, its sides being parallel to the bisector of the angle between the line of fold and the side edge b of the part 7. The extension 9 and the part 6 are separate as far down at least to the bottom of the eye 4, permitting the extension the needle are subject to subsequent grinding to secure the proper taper, smoothness of lateral edges and shape of the point. The upper end of the extension 9 containing the eye 3, is bent forwardly so as to lie directly above the eye 4. The latter eye is in a plane parallel to the face of the needle, the eye 3 being inclined to said plane. The front of the needle is formed with a concave recess 10 below the eye 4, the lower end of which starts at the front surface of the needle and the upper end of which opens into the eye depthwise to the rear face of the eye.

The extension 9 is formed with a slot 11 opening into the eye 3 at the lower arc of said eye, and sufiiciently long and wide to freely admit the lacing when presented to it with the width dimension of the lacing parallel to the length of the slot. The floor 12 of the slot 11 slopes upwardly from the rear to the front face of the extension 9, serving as a guide for the lacing. The transverse width of both eyes 3 and 4 is such as to tightly fit the lacing when it is in normal position crosswise within said eyes.

In order to thread the needle, the extension 9 is first bent back away from the eye 4. The lacing is then presented from the rear to the slot 11, and a suflic'ient length of lacing is pulled therethrough to permit its being threaded through the eye 4. The end of the lacing is skived and pointed for easy insertion, and is threaded through the eye 4 from the rear, the end camming upon the floor of the concave recess 10 and extending slightly therebeyond. The lacing is then arranged crosswise in the eye 4 and the extension 9 bent forward, or let goso as to spring forward, as the case may be, whereby in either instance to press the lacing firmly against the back of the eye 4 and hold it tightly in place. The extension 9 is now substantially in axial alignment with the lower part of the needle. Next, the part of the lacing within the slot 11 is pushed up into the eye 3 and turned crosswise, then pulled tight so as to cause the portion extending between the two eyes to lie substantially straight against the adjacent face of the extension 9. Then a razor blade or other knife is passed along the surface of the needle over the recess 10 to cut off the end of the lacing flush with the surface of the needle. The threading operation is now complete and the needle ready for stitching.

It will be obvious that the thickest part of the threaded needle is at the point d in Figure 4 where the lacing is sandwiched between the two parts of the needle. This zone of maximum thickness is, however, very narrow, being confined to a distance equal to the width of the upper arc of the rim 13 of the eye 4 which presses against the lacing, so that no great stress is required to pull the lacing through the slit in the leather. The width of the slit having been conditioned by the passage therethrough of the thickest part of the needle at d, the sides of the slit bear lightly against the extension 9 and the part 14 of the lacing which lies against it, so that the tendency of the pressure of the slit to pull the lacing out of the eye 4 is minimized. When the curved eye 3 enters the slit, the lacing is cramped against the upper rim of said eye, relieving the part 14 of tension. The end of the lacing is firmly gripped between the extension 9 and'the eye 4 with its end buried in the recess 10 below the surface of the needle. No knot in the end of the lacing, nor any doubling of the lacing is required to hold it in place, and therefore, the lacing does not contribute to the thickness of the needle, excepting at the single point at, as has been described. Consequently, the stitching operation can be conducted with minimum effort and with the assurance that the lacing will not be pulled out from the needle by the friction of the slit thereagainst.

In addition to the holding function of the eye 3, and its usefulness in keeping the lacing flat against the extension 9, it also serves a useful purpose to keep the needle and lacing in end to end alignment when the needle is dangling. Otherwise, the needle being suspended at an intermediate point, would hang at an acute angle. Every time the threaded needle is dropped, the lacing twists and it becomes necessary to chase all of the twists out by sliding the fingers needleward along the lacing. if the needle were suspended at an angle, the fingers colliding with it crosswise would force it off of the lacing. This does not happen if the needle is maintained in endwise alignment with the lacing.

While I have in the above description disclosed a practical embodiment of the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the specific details of construction, as shown and described, are by way of illustration and not to be construed as necessarily limiting the scope of the invention, and that it is within the purview of the invention to also make the needle otherwise than from a folded blank.

What I claim is:

1. Lacing needle comprising a shank, the upper portion of said shank being bifurcated in a medial longitudinal plane intersecting said shank in the direction of its width, one of the furcations thus formed being longer than the other, an upper eye through the upper end of said longer furcation and a lower eye through the shorter furcation, for the sequential threading of the lacing through said eyes in the order named, the base of said longer furcation being substantially at the lower end of said lower eye, said furcations being normally parallel and substantially contiguous with the longer one occluding the eye in the shorter one, said longer furcation being divertible from the plane of bifurcation to give access to the adjacent face of said lower eye to permit the insertion of a lacing therethrough from said adjacent face, and being returnable into clamping relation to the part of the threaded lacing lying between said furcations.

2. Lacing needle comprising a shank of greater width than depth having a pointed lower end, the upper portion of said shank being bifurcated in a medial longitudinal plane intersecting said shank in the direction of its Width, one of the furcations thus formed being longer than the other, an upper eye through the upper end of said longer furcation and a lower eye through the shorter furcation, for the sequential threading of the lacing through said eyes in the order named, the base of said longer furcation being substantially at the lower end of said lower eye, said furcations being normally parallel and substantially contiguous with the longer one occluding the eye in the shorter one, said longer furcation being divertible from the plane of bifurcation to give access to the adjacent face of said lower eye to permit the insertion of a lacing therethrough from said adjacent face, and being returnable into clamping relation to the part of the threaded lacing lying between said furcations.

3. Lacing needle comprising a shank of greater width than depth having a pointed lower end, the upper portion of said shank being bifurcated in a medial longitudinal plane intersecting said shank in the direction of its width, one of the furcations thus formed being longer than the other, an upper eye through the upper end of said longer furcation and a lower eye through the shorter furcation, for the sequential threading of the lacing through said eyes in the order named, the base of said longer furcation being substantially at the lower end of said lower eye, said furcations being normally parallel and substantially contiguous with the longer one occluding the eye in the shorter one, said longer furcation being bendable away from the plane of bifurcation to give access to the adjacent face of said lower eye to permit the insertion of a lacing therethrough from said adjacent face, and bendable into clamping relation to the part of the threaded lacing lying between said furcations.

4. Lacing needle comprising a shank of greater width than depth having a pointed lower end, the upper portion of said shank being bifurcated in a medial longitudinal plane intersecting said shank in the direction of its width, one of the furcations thus formed being longer than the other, an upper eye through the upper end of said longer furcation and a lower eye through the shorter furcation, for the sequential threading of the lacing through said eyes, in the order named, the base of said longer furcation being substantially at the lower end of said lower eye, said furcations being normally parallel and substantially contiguous with the longer one occluding the eye in the shorter one, said longer furcation being bendable away from the plane of bifurcation to give access to the adjacent face of said lower eye to permit the insertion of a lacing therethrough from said adjacent face, and bendable into clamping relation to the part of the threaded lacing lying between said furcations, said shank being provided with a concave recess below said lower eye and opening thereinto, forming a seat for the end of the lacing, the bottom of said recess sloping eyeward from the front of said shank to the plane of bifurcation.

5. Lacing needle comprising a shank of greater width than depth having a pointed lower end, the upper portion of said shank being bifurcated in a medial longitudinal plane intersecting said shank in the direction of its width, one of the furcations thus formed being longer than the other, an upper eye through the upper end of said longer furcation and a lower eye through the shorter furcation, for the sequential threading of the lacing through said eyes in the order named, the base of said longer furcation being substantially at the lower end of said lower eye, said furcations being normally parallel and substantially contiguous with the longer one occluding the eye in the shorter one, said longer furcation being bendable away from the plane of furcation to give access to the adjacent face of said lower eye to permit the insertion of a lacing therethrough from said adjacent face, and bendable into clamping relation to the part of the threaded lacing lying between said furcations, said shank being provided with a concave recess below said lower eye and opening thereinto, forming a seat for the end of the lacing, the bottom of said recess sloping eyeward from the front of said shank to the plane of furcation, the upper end of said longer furcation including said upper eye, being curved forward so that said upper eye is intersected by said medial longitudinal plane.

6. Lacing needle comprising a shank of greater width than depth having a pointed lower end, the upper portion of said shank being bifurcated in a medial longitudinal plane intersecting said shank in the direction of its width, one of the furcations thus formed being longer than the other, an upper eye through the upper end of said longer furcation and a lower eye through the shorter furcation, for the sequential threading of the lacing through said eyes in the order named, the base of said longer furcation being substantially at the lower end of said lower eye, said furcations being normally parallel and substantially contiguous with the longer one occluding the eye in the shorter one, said longer furcation being bendable away from the plane of furcation to give access to the adjacent face of said lower eye to permit the insertion of a lacing therethrough from said adjacent face, and bendable into clamping relation to the part of the threaded lacing lying between said furcations, said shank being provided with a concave recess below said lower eye and opening thereinto, forming a seat for the end of the lacing, the bottom of said recess sloping eyeward from the front of said shank to the plane of furcation, the upper end of said longer furcation including said upper eye, being curved forward so that said upper eye is intersected by said medial longitudinal plane, said longer furcation being formed with a longitudinal slot therethrough below said upper eye, narrower than said upper eye and opening thereinto, the lower end of said slot sloping eyeward from the rear to the front of said longer furcation.

7. Lacing needle comprising a shank formed from congruent portions of a folded blank pressed into surface contiguity, said shank being of greater Width than depth and having a pointed lower end, the upper portion of said shank being bifurcated in the plane of the interface between said congruent portions, one of the furcations thus formed being longer than the other, an upper eye through the upper end of said longer furcation and a lower eye through the shorter furcation, for the sequential threading of the lacing through said eyes in the order named, the base of said longer furcation being substantially at the lower end of said lower eye, said furcations being normally parallel and substantially contiguous with the longer one occluding the eye in the shorter one, said longer furcation being bendable away from the plane of bifurcation to give access to the adjacent face of said lower eye to permit the insertion of a lacing therethrough from said adjacent face, and bendable into clamping relation to the part of the threaded lacing lying between said furcations.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

